SIXERS: Hawks' Williams stays in contact with Turner

ATLANTA — He sat at a locker devoid of a jersey, responding to questions to which he had no answers.

Lou Williams, the former 76ers guard, has no idea when he’ll return to the lineup for the Atlanta Hawks. A torn ACL in his right knee made sure of that.

Williams finished second in Sixth Man of the Year award voting last season for the Sixers, who allowed their leading scorer to walk in free agency. That’s behind him. Even if he can’t play, Williams is entrenched in helping the Hawks get into the playoffs.

“I’m locked in on where I am here and focused on these guys still trying to make a playoff run,” Williams said Wednesday, before his new team hosted his former team, at Philips Arena.

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Williams, who tore his ACL Jan. 21, underwent surgery at the facility of orthopedic surgeon James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. For all the energy that vacated his body when he was felled by the season-ending injury, the effervescent guard said it was restored when he was other rehabbing athletes around him.

“It was encouraging, being able to spend time when I went to do my surgery. I spent some time around RGIII (Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III), spent some time around (South Carolina running back) Marcus Lattimore, those guys who have been dealing with those injuries and trying to come back with success.

“I was watching (Lattimore) doing his thing like it was another day at the office.”

Because of his rehab schedule, Williams said he doesn’t have too much time to keep up on the Sixers’ goings-on. He said he gets his updates from two outlets.

“I only read what pops up on HoopsHype. Other than that, it’s what me and my man Evan (Turner) talk about,” Williams said.

And what’s the subject of those conversations?

“That’s confidential, you know,” Williams said. “That’s my friend and we were teammates for a while. We have very open, candid conversations about everything.”

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Aside from Williams, another reunion of sorts took part Wednesday.

Hawks great Dominique Wilkins got a chance to spend some time in pregame with his nephew, Sixers guard/forward Damien Wilkins.

“When he’s in town, when I’m in Philly, you get uncle-nephew time. You have to make time for that,” said Dominique, Atlanta’s vice president of basketball.

Dominique, the NBA Hall of Famer whose number is retired by the Hawks, made a name for himself as a tremendous dunker. He said he can’t take credit for Damien’s skills.

“That boy can get off the floor. He’s not bad. Not bad,” the uncle said. “He used to be a shy kid growing up, and seeing how he grew into this defensive-minded kid who plays hard. It’s just kind of funny and good to see how he evolved into a nice player in this league.”

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Guard Nick Young did not make the trip with the Sixers, staying home to rehab his sprained left ankle. He will have missed six games by the time the team returns home for Monday’s game against visiting Brooklyn.

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The Sixers were largely spectators at the trade deadline a month ago, though one offer – confirmed to have been on the table – had Atlanta sending Josh Smith to Philly for Turner and Spencer Hawes.

It never went through, though Smith offered his opinion on it.

“I really didn’t pay much attention to everything that was in the media,” said Smith, who’s got an expiring contract. “I knew that there were discussions. … I can’t say specifically what the teams were, I really can’t. But I don’t really want to talk about that right now. That’s not my concern. My concern is getting into the playoffs and getting as high as we can get (seeding) and take it from there.”